News | January 8, 2014

Desalitech, a provider of high-efficiency water production and treatment solutions, announced recently that it will supply an advanced wastewater treatment system to UPL Environmental Engineers, Ltd. (UPLEEL), one of India's leading environmental engineering construction and project management companies.

The Desalitech system will process 200 cubic meters per day (m3/d, 53,000 gallon per day) of industrial wastewater as part of a zero-liquid-discharge (ZLD) treatment process designed to minimize disposal costs and environmental impact by virtually eliminating liquid waste. Desalitech's Closed Circuit Desalination (CCD) reverse osmosis (RO) solution will be a key element in the plant's ZLD system, cutting the costs and energy consumption of downstream components by as much as 50 percent.

"Desalitech's technology provides superior operational efficiency by greatly reducing effluent waste while using less energy than any other reverse osmosis solution on the market," said Santhosh Nair, Managing Director of UPLEEL. "It is a smart investment that will pay for itself in six months. But beyond obvious cost benefits, Desalitech solutions provide a degree of control and flexibility that we haven't had before."

The Gujarat plant (one of the several units in Gujarat) produces up to 6,000 metric tons per year of various pesticides for agricultural use. The process of manufacture of pesticides generates a wastewater effluent stream that requires processing prior to disposal. ZLD is an emerging water treatment goal for waste minimization and water reclamation intended to eliminate liquid waste and its impact on the environment. Typically comprised of biological treatment followed by RO pretreatment for removal of components harmful to RO followed by microfiltration, RO and evaporators, each subsequent step in a ZLD system is more expensive than the previous, in terms of both capital and operating costs of the equipment. High recovery reverse osmosis increases the concentration of brine and reduces the energy needed to evaporate effluent, thereby reducing the overall equipment costs and energy requirements of a ZLD operation.

Although conventional multi-stage RO systems can be used in ZLD processes, conventional RO is limited in the degree to which they can concentrate waste and can consume significant amounts of energy. Typical multi-stage conventional RO systems operate at a maximum of 88% recovery. Desalitech's CCD systems typically operate at 94% recovery, cutting the amount of brine waste generated and the associated downstream treatment costs in half. This can produce savings of thousands or even tens of thousands of U.S. dollars per day.

"By reinventing the reverse osmosis process, our CCD solutions attain unprecedented high water recovery rates to reduce the high costs associated with zero liquid discharge operation," said Nadav Efraty, Desalitech CEO. "CCD is ideal for any industrial process that creates a wastewater stream, and we are excited that it will help India's fastest growing companies reduce water treatment costs and environmental impacts."

About Desalitech
Desalitech is a provider of high-recovery water production and effluent treatment solutions that deliver superior performance at lower costs. Its patented next-generation Closed-Circuit Desalination (CCD) solution represents the first major improvement in reverse osmosis water treatment in decades, achieving more efficient use of water resources, reduced emission of brine waste, and lower power consumption using standard off-the shelf components. CCD systems are uniquely capable of extracting purified water from challenging sources and adjusting to highly variable water conditions, making them ideal for industrial water and effluent treatment, agricultural water supply and inland brackish desalination. Desalitech was named to the prestigious 2013 Global Cleantech 100 for its innovations in the water sector.

About UPLEEL
UPL Environmental Engineers Limited is one of India's leading environmental engineering construction and project management companies with 25 years of varied experience in executing various types of challenging projects on turnkey, BOO & BOOT basis in Public and Private sector. UPLEEL has an excellent track record in handling complex problems in the field of water, wastewater treatment, recycle and reuse processes, solid and hazardous waste management including energy from waste. It has given expert consultancy for various environmental projects both on a national and international level.